The Cricketer vs the BOLA Junior

The Cricketer team headed down to the MCC Cricket Academy at Lord’s to try out the four bowling machines on offer from BOLA

The machine is a vital tool to allow batsmen of a young age to practise various different shots intensely. Sometimes you just cannot rely on young net bowlers to deliver consistently. The balls are lighter and smaller than a normal match ball and do not hurt as much.

They give players more confidence to go forward and play off the front foot; they might not otherwise if they are scared of getting hurt by the ball. The machine can go from 20–65mph, it can also make the ball swing, but it cannot make it turn.

This will allow players to get used to facing against a variety of different bowling. When I faced the machine, it allowed me to get my eye in really quickly, because I knew where it was going to go. This allowed me to play shots that I was bad at and improve upon them.

The consistency of the machine meant that I could practise nailing each shot and then move on to the next one. This machine has helped me to lead with my head when leaning into an off drive. It is also a cheaper alternative than BOLA’s other machines.